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Category Archives: life

A good friend just posted this as an important reminder to people on their privacy on Facebook; however, I think we must dig further into the problem to understand it. Point being: Facebook is not the problem. Pop over and read this article, then come back and see what I have to say.

Postman is still on my to read list along with a is for ox, once I finish the Gutenberg elegies, but I think our culture is far worse off than postman indicates, it is both Orwellian and Huxleyan to the extreme.

What people cannot forget is that it is not FBs fault, they are providing a service that is filling a void in the culture.

Deleting your Facebook account will accomplish nothing. Being conscious of how our consumerism is used against us and acting accordingly is more appropriate.

How many of us tag our restaurants, link the movie we just finished watching, follow our favorite author or sports team all on Facebook?

Now the real question is, how many of you do so remembering that every button you click, link you follow and picture you view is stored and sold to the highest bidder?

Understand that Facebook is facilitating what the mass is asking for, it is not stealing your data, you are willingly providing it because of the benefits you receive.

Boycotting, deleting or complaining is not going to do you a lick of good; being informed however and acting intelligently on that information is where you will find the most value.

In fact, if you do delete it, I’ll give you less than 6 months before you come back, as we are all slaves to our culture in one way or another.

So a public school teacher told me this afternoon that in thirteen years of teaching, she had never had a child illustrate a picture book the way my son had, so it had upset her, and she wouldn’t tolerate it. I let her know that in thirteen years, she has never had a child as amazing as my son, end of story.

Here is a little more detail:

The teacher drew pictures of Santa, and he was supposed to write the story behind it.

He started off with Santa not wanting to get up, so a bear hit him over the head with a bell (instead of ringing the bell while standing over him). Then they tried to steal his pants (instead of helping him get his pants on). Next, the reindeer chased Santa, and a dog tried to eat the reindeer, and Santa crashed his sled, got stuck in a chimney and went to jail for trespassing.

All very appropriate to the pictures (if you were to see them) – but none of them fitting the "perfect sheep like mold" setup by public schools. The teacher tried to tell me that it was violent, and tried to use the fact that she had never had a child in thirteen years, teaching 3 sets of students each year, ever write a story like that, and she was deeply disturbed.

Her version of "creative" was when one child said that Santa had to say "Ho Ho Ho" three times before he did anything. I’m thinking that OCD is not creative, it’s a disease – and was left pondering what a sad existence she must have to think that "Ho Ho Ho" is creative, and think my son’s creativity "disturbing". I made sure to point out what a tragedy it was that she never had a child as creative as my son.

I then proceeded to ask her if she lived in the same world that I live in, if she had ever watched the loony toons, and finished my diatribe by letting her know, that without any question, the one thing I will not let public school do to any of my children is to file them into round pegs and strip them of their creativity and their identity.

Other than that though; the school system as a whole is doing very well to help him work through his anxiety, hyperactivity, and boredom regarding the pace of going to public school. They have definitely been willing to work with him at his own pace on some of the issues that he does need to work on, so I have to give them the level of appreciation that is due.

But dampening his creativity, and molding his identity into what they think a "good little child" should be, is something that I will never let happen! Ever!

Not that I should expect anything different, but it’s funny, when you have plenty of money to spare, the credit card companies are like leeches, everyone is sending you offers and trying to woo you into a relationship.

When they start seeing that money drying up (the 2010 expenses have been unbelievable after depleting storage of excess for the adoptions) – they are like rats abandoning a sinking ship.

Over the last two months we’ve had credit card companies close accounts and reduce balances all without prior-notification – to the point of causing me to have to make unexpected $500-600 payments on a single card as it’s available balance was reduced by a couple hundred dollars.

With other cards, now that we have balances for the first time, they are sending us balance transfer offers with very fine print stating that you will start paying off your lower interest balances first before your higher interest balances. So they are throwing out offers of lower interest so-as to get us to pile on lower interest loans onto higher interest loans; so they can compound interest. The most obvious is when you have credit cards from the same company, same credit line, etc. and they give you low interest balance transfers for the accounts that carry a balance but not for accounts that do not carry a balance. Worst part is, most people don’t realize this is what they’re doing. Sleeze balls!

Little do they know that this is one of the ways I weed out the good card companies from the bad… that in a few months I will pay off and close the accounts that tried to screw me over, and no longer feed them the excessive amounts of money with each swipe at the gas station or the grocery store.

However, it’s always nice to remember that credit card companies are the equivalent of bottom feeding, blood sucking leeches & rats. They should come with a warning label (Note: we will be here for your convenience, but don’t turn your back as we’ll take every opportunity to try and screw you if it looks like we can).

In regards to HR5283, just so we understand the expectations here: These children WILL become citizens whether or not the law passes. The law on the floor will just make it so they don’t have to wait the 2 years to become a citizen, due to the way they came into the country to complete their adoption.

It means that if their parents were to die, they would be treated like their siblings in guardianship transferring to those named in a will, rather than immediately becoming wards of the state. It just means that they can travel freely in and out of the country without fear of harassment, and that they will be treated with the same respect and value and dignity that we, as American citizens, often give to no others, unless they are "Americans". I’m all for becoming a citizen legally, and if we have to wait, we have to wait.

However, as a family that adopted children from another country, I can’t tell you how surprising it is when we hear people express anger or consternation at us or towards us for helping people in another country instead of helping people here at home.

Little do they know that our family is very active in doing both, as are most every family that has opened up to a foreign adoption. And, more than that, I guarantee, GUARANTEE, that probably 90% of the people that make statements in anger over people helping people in other countries, first, live such sheltered lives, that they truly speak only out of ignorance, and second, are likely to be doing nothing to help anybody, but themselves.

When people start to become in tune with the destitution of their own community and country, it’s a natural progression of maturity to begin to see past borders, past gender, past race and color.

Ok – I try not to blog on negative things (too often); and there is a lot of Facebook that I ignore (in fact, most chain posts I ignore); but I really had to comment on the whole “cyber bullying” and the “bullying” conversations that have been very prevalent over the last couple weeks.

Let me start by saying that when I was 10 years old we moved to a new school system and a new town. First, I was the new kid at an age that is very sensitive to cliques, second I was a nerd (very smart, but a big dork, horrible sense of humor – that I still have to this day and LOVE!), third, we were pretty poor, so my clothes were never stylish, were often worn or second-hand, and if they were ruined (like a pair of shoes I tried to dry in the dryer once) – I had to wear them anyway.

So I was teased, I was bullied, I was made fun of – I was miserable. I had no friends. I was bored to death at the monotony and foolishness of the public school system. I was held back, and rarely encouraged. I was always in trouble due to my boredom and lack of coping mechanisms. I came home every day and ate handfuls of devil dogs and Twinkies and tons of other junk that we got from a friend that drove a truck for Little Debbie (once the junk was past the sell-by date, they would just give it away).

So, on top of everything else; i got fat, fast! Once I was fat, there was even more to torment me about. My blubber, my girl boobs. My lack of skill in sports, on top of that, my asthma meant I didn’t have a chance to ever be considered “cool enough to hang out with”. It didn’t get any better either – I wasn’t even invited to a graduation party my eighth grade year. It was a rainy, dreary afternoon, and I came home and cried – because I had no friends. I hated school, I was miserable and depressed.

Listen, bullying is not new, it has been around since the world began to turn. The popular or strong pick on the weak or meek. You know what I did? The same thing my father did when he was bullied growing up. I changed my life in my decisions and in my actions; I worked to change everything about my life that I possibly had control over. I got a full time job at 14 to help buy my own clothes, I started lifting and lost almost 50 pounds, I found a hobby that would interest me despite having no friends; and in the rare instances where the bullying just would not stop: I took care of the problem myself. You see – I am no stranger to bullying.

There are two types of people in this world: the people that feel sorry for themselves and do nothing about it, and the people that get up and work to change their circumstances or their own disposition.

Now, I completely understand the whole conversation about the immature reasoning skills of these young children, and how they are making tragic choices, and in some cases there may also be a clinical side of the issue as well; and trust me, I have a son who has been miserable since the day he was born, and I worry a lot about him, and we work very hard to make sure he is receiving the help and attention and foundation that he needs, and hope by the grace of God, that he will always temper his choices based on the self-worth we have instilled in him.

But why all of a sudden do we find so many more young people taking their own lives, Why? Has bullying become worse now than it was in the past? Absolutely not! So what has changed?

Let’s look at the foundation that builds maturity in our children: their home. The family is being destroyed from the outside in, and the inside out.

In the family, the divorce rate that continues to rise, the prevalence and increase of pornography, which destroys the bond between husband and wife. We have families coming apart at the seams all around the country. Husbands and wives that are so worried and so pressed on all sides for financial needs that both parents are leaving the home, stressing and struggling to continue to uphold the wealth that they have amassed or want to keep or want to gain. Children are growing up without the foundation of a healthy family, and the pressures, as they have always been, are still there.

If the pressures inside were not bad enough, the family unit is continuously barraged from the outside as well, as things like homosexuality and the challenge of marriage as it was intended from the beginning of humanity are gaining wide spread acceptance and being forced into the minds and hearts of our country. The immorality and unfaithfulness, the anger and hatred continues to rise in the home as it is pulled apart.

So what are we to do? Instead of trying to pass laws against bullying (I mean, how stupid can we get!), instead of trying to build martyrs of these children that have made very poor decisions, how about we, as parents become more in tune with our own children, and more in tune with our own families. The children that are bullying, likely have deep rooted problems that come from the breakdown in their own home. The children that are being bullied, need to have a strong family foundation for their growth, coping skills and maturation. So let’s look to make our homes a place where our children can feel comfortable in their growth and finding themselves.

Outside of the home, why don’t we vote for government officials, and laws that will support real family values and help cultivate the integrity and foundation that children need inside of their families, rather than tear them down and destroy them.

For the children, let’s stop trying to define them by their faults: If they are liars, or perpetually stealing, or being spiteful, hateful, or desiring (or struggling with) homosexuality, if they think they are fat, or “ugly”, or “slow”, if the family unit is poor; these things provide all the more reason for children to receive our love and support as they work through them in their childhood.

Please understand too, that parents should not just be about “letting their kids be who they want to be” – It is possible to direct and steer our children towards healthy lifestyles and choices, but still love them and value them in their humanity.

In the end, If these children have a solid family foundation, if they know they are loved and appreciated and valued by their family, if they receive careful and dedicated medical help when it is required, no matter their lot in life, no matter how miserable they are in the way they are treated, they will feel comfortable in talking with their parents, and seeking parental advice; and parents who are active and engaged can be there for them to help them work through the hardships of their growing years.

I will not boast or brag about how my situation growing up has positively shaped where I am today, but I can tell you that the bullying that I had to endure made me tougher, more resilient and prepared me for the life that was out there beyond the walls of the school. I can’t say that I would love to relive it over again, but at this point, I can say: “Thanks for making me who I am today!” and to my parents, who instilled in my the understanding of the value of human life (including my own), “Thanks”, and to the Lighthouse that stands on the hill that has continued to guide me every step of the way – Maranatha!

Ok, here’s the deal. The first I heard of this I said to myself, if they truly believe the information would impact national security, then it must be kept secret… but then I thought why the heck would the Pentagon wait until after the book was published before they pulled the plug on it in such a visible way… and there I think is the key!

While most people that like a good conspiracy are focusing on “What was removed” – I’m really thinking we should be focusing on “Why did they do it in such a visible way”.

Follow the bouncing ball.

The writer is an ex-CIA op – probably worked in PsyOps and Counter Intel; wouldn’t it seem plausible that he was in collusion with the Pentagon to write the book, publish the book, and then have the book destroyed and redacted in such a public manner?

First, it would definitely increase the book sales, but second, and more importantly, it would bring more credence to the information being written in the book.

So, what if the book is actually a ploy to feed our minds with information that really isn’t true; by doing what they did in such a visible way, they have all but assured that people will buy the book, read the book, believe the book, and spread & speculate on what else may have been “taken out”.

Do we buy it “hook, line and sinker”?

See, I’m either smarter than everyone else, or I’m more paranoid than everyone else! Either way, it certainly works to fuel the fun of conspiracies!